Honouring Te Tiriti

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the basis of peace and justice in Aotearoa. It is an ongoing agreement, not something to be settled.

The Green Party is committed to addressing the ongoing breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, fixing the Treaty settlement process so that it is just, fair and durable, and upholding Māori representation in governance and decision making. These changes will make a real difference for hapū and iwi Māori and get us that much closer to truly honouring our country’s founding document. We will:

Entrench the Māori electorates and oppose any call for a referendum on them

Create a level playing field for local government wards, by letting councils establish Māori wards without being overturned by a poll

Undertake a comprehensive review of the Treaty settlement process and put an end to “full and final” settlements, e.g. to allow settlements to be revisited where situations have changed or claimants were shut out of original negotiations

Ensure claims can only be settled with the agreement of the original claimants and remove the Crown’s “large natural groupings” approach to settlements.

The Green Party accepts the te reo Māori text of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and affirms that Māori did not cede their tino rangatiratanga. In Government, we will recognise this by seeking to right historic and contemporary wrongs, ensuring a baseline of Māori representation in local and central government, and implementing Te Tiriti in everything we do.

As Aotearoa moves towards a relationship that truly upholds tino rangatiratanga, it is essential that tangata whenua have representation in Parliament and on local and regional councils so they have a voice in the decisions that affect them.